That's what a jury decided in a recent XXX-rated lawsuit in
suburban Los Angeles. After a two-week trial in mid October, a superior
court jury in Norwalk awarded $85,000 to a Tennessee woman whose two
daughters were exposed to gay porn while watching TV in a motel.

This may be the first decision of its kind, and the antigay group
Focus on the Family is already championing it as a victory.

In August 2006, Edwina McCombs took her two daughters, then aged 8
and 9, to Artesia, Calif. After renting a room at the Value Lodge,
McCombs allowed the children to channel surf while she bathed. The girls
landed on hard-core pornography with close-up images of gay sex acts.

McCombs checked out the next morning and soon filed suit, claiming
negligence and emotional distress. She refused a $50,000 settlement and
insisted upon a trial.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"She wasn't as about the money as she was in making a
point," says McCombs's attorney, Scott Jarvis.

A child psychologist testified at the trial, claiming the children
were traumatized and would need years of counseling. Would the kids have
been harmed less if it had been straight porn?

That issue was never introduced in trial, but the gay porn clips
were. Psychologist Robi Ludwig says that may have sparked a visceral response from the jurors. "Topics such as homosexuality are facts
of everyday life," he says. "[But] some people have difficulty
being reasonable when they are being discussed. Their emotions take
control."

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